Mechanism for folding hardtop

ABSTRACT

A stowage mechanism  30  for a rear roof member  6  of a motor vehicle  1, 101  is also disclosed which is particularly small allowing it to be easily packaged in the motor vehicle  1, 101 . The stowage mechanism  30  uses a combination of a chain  31  and a guide slot  32  to control the movement of the rear roof member  6  between raised and stowed positions which require the rear roof member  6  to be rotated, moved forwards and then lowered to reach the stowed position.

This invention relates to motor vehicles and in particular to a roofstowage mechanism for a motor vehicle having at least one movable roofmember.

It is well known to provide motor vehicles of varying styles such as,for example, hatchback, MPV, estate pick-up and convertible.

With recent changes in lifestyle many vehicle purchasers are desirous ofhaving one style of motor vehicle for some uses and an alternative stylefor other purposes. For example, some people would like to drive a 2seat open top vehicle for commuting or pleasure but may on otheroccasions need the space or versatility of an estate car, hatchback orMPV to transport goods, shopping or other more passengers. At the momentpeople require such different vehicles have to purchase more than onemotor vehicle.

It is an object of this invention to provide a roof stowage mechanismthat is very compact and can be manufactured in an economical and simplemanner.

According to the invention there is provided a roof stowage mechanismfor a motor vehicle having a body structure and a roof structure havingat least two roof members including a rigid rear roof member, the roofmechanism being operable to move at least the rear roof member from araised position, in which it forms in combination with one or more otherroof members a cover for a passenger compartment of the motor vehicle,to a stowed position, the roof stowage mechanism comprising an endlessdrive mechanism having an endless drive member connected to a part ofthe rear roof member by a driven member, a guide track for guiding aguide member fastened to the rear roof member and a drive means to causethe endless drive member to be selectively moved so as to cause thedriven member to move from a first position corresponding to a positionin which the rear roof member is in the raised position to a secondposition corresponding to a position in which the rear roof member is inthe stowed position, the movement of the endless drive member causingthe guide member to be moved along the guide track from a first positioncorresponding to a position in which the rear roof member is in theraised position to a second position corresponding to a position inwhich the rear roof member is in the stowed position wherein the roofmechanism is operable to rotate the rear roof forwardly, move the rearroof forwardly and then lower the rear roof down a vertically inclinedplane in order to move the rear roof from the raised position to thestowed position.

The guide member and the driven member may be connected together by alink so that the distance between them remains constant. The link membermay form a part of a connector member used to connect the guide memberto the roof member.

The movement of the roof member may be determined by the path followedby the endless drive member and the relative spacing of the guide trackwith respect to the endless drive member.

The roof mechanism may be further operable to move the rear roofrearwardly in order to disengage it from one of the other roof membersbefore it is rotated forwardly, moved forwardly or lowered down thevertically inclined plane.

The movement of the driven member from the first position to the secondposition may be first rearwardly to a third position so as to disengagethe rear roof member from the other roof member, may then be primarilyupwardly from the third position to a fourth position so as to produceforward rotation of the roof member, may then be forwardly along adownwardly inclined plane from the fourth position to a fifth position,may then be primarily downwardly from the fifth position to a sixthposition to complete the forward rotation of the rear roof member andmay then be down a vertically inclined plane from the sixth position tothe second position.

Each driven member may follow an inverted “L” shaped path from thefourth position to the second position and each guide member may followan inverted “L” shaped path between the first and second positions.

The drive means may be further operable to selectively move the endlessdrive member to cause the driven member to move from the second positionto the first position.

The movement of the endless drive member may also cause the guide memberto be simultaneously moved along the guide track from the secondposition to the first position.

The endless drive mechanism may be a chain drive mechanism and theendless drive member is an endless chain, the chain drive mechanismfurther comprising a front upper chainwheel, a rear upper chainwheel anda lower chainwheel, the chainwheels being positioned such that the pathof the endless chain from the rear upper chainwheel to the front upperchainwheel is forwardly along a downwardly inclined plane and the pathof the endless chain from the front upper chainwheel to the lowerchainwheel is primarily downwardly along a vertically inclined plane.

The drive means may be one of a hydraulic motor and an electric motordriving a chainwheel.

The guide track may follow a path that is arranged substantiallyparallel to at least a portion of the path followed by the endless drivemember.

The guide track may be a slot formed in an elongate member and the guidemember may be a pin that is engaged with the slot.

Preferably, the roof member, when in the stowed position, may be locatedwithin a passenger compartment of the motor vehicle.

When in the stowed position, the roof member may be positioned behind arow of seats in the passenger compartment.

The roof storage mechanism may be operable to move the rear roof memberforwardly after it has it has been rotated forwardly into an angledposition and the roof member may be then lowered into its stowedposition after it has been moved forwardly to a predetermined position.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a motorvehicle having a first row of seats, a second row of seats locatedbehind the first row of seats and a roof stowage mechanism in accordancewith said first aspect of the invention wherein the rear roof member,when in the stowed position, is located within the passenger compartmentof the motor vehicle and is positioned between the first row of seatsand the second row of seats.

The motor vehicle may further comprise one or more movable side windowson each side of the passenger compartment and the or each side window onboth sides of the passenger compartment is lowered before the rear roofmember is moved from its raised position.

The roof mechanism may be operable to move a front edge of the rear roofmember under a rear edge of one of the other roof members in order tomove the rear roof member from the raised position to the stowedposition.

The rear roof member may at least partially cover the second row ofseats when it is in the stowed position.

The motor vehicle may have a two part roof structure comprising the rearroof member and a front roof member which is also movable from a raisedposition to a stowed position wherein when the front roof member is inthe raised position it forms in combination with the raised rear roofmember a cover for a passenger compartment of the motor vehicle and whenthe front roof is moved to the stowed position it lies substantiallyhorizontally at the rear of the motor vehicle so as to a least partiallycover the second row of seats.

To move the rear roof member from the raised position to the stowedposition, the rear roof member may be first moved rearwardly todisengage it from the front roof member.

After being move rearwardly, the rear roof member may be partiallyrotated forwardly so that the front edge of the rear roof member liesbelow the rear edge of the front roof member. After partially rotatingthe rear roof member, the rear roof member may then be moved forwardlyso that it passes under the rear edge of the front roof member. When theforward motion and any further rotation are complete, the rear roofmember may be lowered along a vertically inclined plane into the stowedposition.

The front roof member may not be moved towards the stowed position untilthe rear roof member has been at least partially moved to its stowedposition.

The rear roof member may have moved to a position where it has at leastpartially passed under the front roof member before the front roofmember begins to move to its stowed position.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference tothe accompanying drawing of which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a two box motor vehicle according to theinvention which is shown partially transparent so that features normallynot visible can be seen, the motor vehicle has front and rear roofmembers both of which are shown in their fully raised positions.

FIG. 2 is side view of the motor vehicle shown in FIG. 1 as it wouldnormally appear when viewed from the side showing the first step in atransformation process from a two box style to a convertible style ofmotor vehicle.

FIG. 3 is a side view similar to FIG. 2 but showing the next step in thetransformation process.

FIG. 4 is a side view similar to FIG. 3 but showing the next step in thetransformation process.

FIG. 5 is a side view similar to FIG. 4 but showing the next step in thetransformation process.

FIG. 6 is a side view similar to FIG. 5 but showing the next step in thetransformation process.

FIG. 7 is a side view similar to FIG. 6 but showing the next step in thetransformation process.

FIG. 8 is a side view similar to FIG. 7 but showing the next step in thetransformation process.

FIG. 9 is a side view similar to FIG. 8 but showing the next step in thetransformation process.

FIG. 10 is a side view similar to FIG. 9 but showing the next step inthe transformation process.

FIG. 11 is a side view similar to FIG. 10 but showing the next step inthe transformation process.

FIG. 12 is a side view similar to FIG. 11 but showing the next step inthe transformation process.

FIG. 13 is a side view similar to FIG. 12 but showing the final step inthe transformation process in which the motor vehicle is in the style ofa two seater convertible or open top vehicle with the front and rearroof members both shown in their fully stowed positions.

FIG. 14 is a side view showing the mechanisms in positions correspondingto FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 15 is a side view showing the mechanisms in positions correspondingto FIG. 3.

FIG. 16 is a side view showing the mechanisms in positions correspondingto FIG. 4.

FIG. 17 is a side view showing the mechanisms in positions correspondingto FIG. 5.

FIG. 18 is a side view showing the mechanisms in positions correspondingto a position between those shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6.

FIG. 19 is a side view showing the mechanisms in positions correspondingto FIG. 6.

FIG. 20 is a side view showing the mechanisms in positions correspondingto FIG. 7.

FIG. 21 is a side view showing the mechanisms in positions correspondingto FIG. 8.

FIG. 22 is a side view showing the mechanisms in positions correspondingto FIG. 9.

FIG. 23 is a side view showing the mechanisms in positions correspondingto FIG. 10.

FIG. 24 is a side view showing the mechanisms in positions correspondingto FIG. 11.

FIG. 25 is a side view showing the mechanisms in positions correspondingto FIG. 12.

FIG. 26 is a side view showing the mechanisms in positions correspondingto FIG. 13.

FIG. 27 is a side view of the rear roof stowage mechanism shown in FIGS.14 to 26 on a larger scale.

FIG. 28 is a rear view of the rear roof stowage mechanism shown in FIGS.14 to 28.

FIGS. 29 a to 29 c are scrap pictorial views of part of the motorvehicle showing a side access flap raised.

FIG. 30 is a pictorial view of the access flap shown on FIG. 28 whenviewed from a reverse angle.

FIG. 30 a is a scrap cross-section through the access flap shown inFIGS. 29 and 30 showing the flap in a closed position.

FIG. 31 is a side view of a motor vehicle fitted with a device forsecuring articles to the front roof member showing the front roof memberin a lowered carriage or loading position.

FIG. 32 is a side view of the motor vehicle shown in FIG. 31 with thefront roof lifted into a raised carriage position.

FIG. 33 is a side view of a motor vehicle in accordance with thisinvention configured in a pick-up style.

With particular reference to FIGS. 1 to 13 there is shown a two boxmotor vehicle 1 which in this case is in the form or style of ahatchback motor vehicle but could also be of an MPV or estate vehicle.It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that a two boxvehicle is one with an engine compartment and a passenger compartmentwith no fixed bulkhead between the passenger compartment and a luggagestorage area. The luggage storage area is formed as part of thepassenger compartment and the front or rear seats depending upon thenumber of rows of seats are used as a separator.

The motor vehicle 1 has a body structure including a bonnet 2 locatednear to a front end of the vehicle 1, a windscreen 3 extending upwardlyand rearwardly away from the bonnet 2 and having at its upper edge atransversely extending cross-rail 4 which is connected to the main lowerbody structure of the motor vehicle by a pair of front support pillarsor “A” posts. The vehicle has a two piece rigid movable roof structurecomprised of a front roof member 5 having a front edge for abutmentagainst the transverse cross-rail 4 when the front roof member 5 is inthe raised position (as shown in FIG. 1) and a rear roof member 6 havinga front edge for sealing engagement with a rear edge of the front roofmember 5 when the front and rear roof members 5 and 6 are both in theirrespective raised positions (as shown in FIG. 1) and a lower edge forsealing abutment with the lower body structure of the motor vehicle 1when the rear roof is in its raised position.

The lower body structure of the motor vehicle 1 is that part of the bodystructure which lies on or below a waistline 15 of the motor vehicle 1.Above the waistline 15 is the upper body structure which is primarilycomprised of any windows fitted to the motor vehicle 1 and the roofstructure of the motor vehicle 1. The upper body structure is thereforeoften referred to as the “glasshouse” of a vehicle.

The rear roof member 6 has a substantially flat major surface and twodownwardly depending side portions which are used to connect the flatsurface to the lower body structure of the vehicle 1.

The front roof member 5 is in the form of a substantially flat panelwhich reinforcements along each side and is arranged substantiallyhorizontally when the vehicle 1 is resting upon a horizontal surface.

The vehicle 1 has a front movable side window 13 and a rear movable sidewindow 14 fitted on each side of the vehicle 1 to allow a driver or anypassengers to see out of the sides of a passenger compartment 12. Themovable side windows 13, 14 are engageable at their upper ends withseals attached to the side edges of the front and rear roof members 5and 6 when the respective windows 13, 14 are raised and the roof members5, 6 are in the raised positions shown in FIG. 1.

The rear roof 6 has an upper tailgate 7 connected at an upper endthereof by means of hinges (not shown) to the rear roof member 6. Inthis case the rear tailgate 7 is made from glass but it will beappreciated that it could be constructed as a peripheral frame with aglass panel located therein.

A lower tailgate 8 is connected at a lower end by means of hinges (notshown) to the lower body structure. The upper and lower tailgates 7 and8 form in combination a split tailgate assembly which is usable when themotor vehicle is configured as a hatchback vehicle to gain access to aluggage area 11 located in the rear of the passenger compartment 12 ofthe motor vehicle 1. Access to the luggage area 11 can be gained byeither raising the upper tailgate 7 or by opening both of the tailgates7, 8. The vehicle 1 has two rows of seats located in the passenger andluggage compartment 12 (which is sometimes referred to as a combinedluggage and passenger compartment), there is a front row of seats 9located towards the front of the passenger compartment 12 including aseat for a driver of the vehicle 1 and a rear row of seats 10 includinga number of passenger seats.

The backrests of the seats forming the rear row 10 are used to separatethe luggage area 11 from the rest of the passenger compartment 12. As iswell known in the art, the backrests of one or more of the rear row ofseats 10 can be folded forward to increase the luggage carrying capacityof the vehicle 1.

A stowage mechanism 20 for the front roof member 5 is shown to includean electric motor driveably connected to one of two arms 22, 23described in greater detail hereinafter.

The vehicle 1 is shown in FIG. 1 with both of the roof members 5, 6 intheir fully raised positions so as to produce a hatchback style of motorvehicle but the roof members 5, 6 are movable from these raisedpositions to respective stowed positions to form further alternativestyles of motor vehicle.

The process of transformation from the hatchback style to an open top orconvertible style of motor vehicle will now be described with referenceto FIGS. 2 to 13 but it will be appreciated that the process isreversible so that the vehicle can also be converted back from aconvertible to a hatchback.

In FIG. 2 the first step of the transformation process is shownpartially completed with the front and rear side windows 13 and 14partially lowered into the lower body structure of the vehicle 1. Whenfully complete the front and side windows 13 and 14 are fully retractedinto the lower body structure.

In FIG. 3 the next step of the transformation process is shown in whichthe rear roof member 6 is slid rearwardly away from the front roofmember 5 so as to disengage the front edge of the rear roof member 6from the rear edge of the front roof member 5. During this rearwardmovement the rear roof 6 is arranged to be moved slightly upwardly as ittraverses rearwardly so as to reduce the loading on any seals (notshown) positioned between the rear roof 6 and the adjacent lower bodystructure. That is to say the rear roof 6 moves primarily rearwardlyalong an upwardly inclined plane during this step.

In FIG. 4 the next step of the transformation process is shown in whichan access flap 50 is lifted on each side of the vehicle 1 from a closedposition to a raised position. The access flaps 50 are positionedsubstantially on the waistline 15 of the vehicle 1 and need to be raisedto allow the rear roof member 6 to begin to rotate forwardly.

The rear roof member 6 then begins to rotate forwardly so that the frontedge of the rear roof member 6 is dropped below the height of the rearedge of the front roof member 5.

In FIG. 5 the next step of the transformation process is shown in whichthe rear roof member 6 is rotated further forwardly.

The rear roof member 6 is then moved forwardly. The motion of the rearroof member 6 is synchronized or arranged such that the front edge ofthe rear roof member 6 passes under the rear edge of the front roofmember 5. During this step the rear roof member 6 is moved forwardly anddownwardly along a downwardly inclined plane. In this case thedownwardly inclined plane lies above and parallel to the upwardlyinclined plane along which the rear roof member 6 was initially movedrearwardly along. However, the downwardly inclined plane need not bearranged parallel to the upwardly inclined plane.

In FIG. 6 the next step of the transformation process is shown. Theforward rotation of the rear roof member 6 is complete and the forwardmotion of the rear roof member 6 is complete so that the rear roofmember 6 is now positioned in a vertically inclined orientation inpreparation for lowering into the passenger compartment 12. That is tosay the relatively flat major surface of the rear roof member 6 ispositioned at an angle that is less than 45 degrees to the vertical.

In FIG. 7 the next step of the transformation process is shown in whichthe rear roof member 6 transitions downwardly along a verticallyinclined plane and the front roof member 5 begins to move from itsraised position towards its stowed position. It will be noted that thefront roof member 5 is retained in substantially the same orientation atall times so that it remains substantially horizontal and passes overthe partially stowed rear roof member 6.

In FIG. 8 the next step of the transformation process is shown in whichthe rear roof continues to transition downwardly and the front roofmember 5 continues to be moved rearwardly along an arc or curved pathdefined by the two arms 22, 23 used to support it. It will beappreciated that there are two more arms on the opposite side of thefront roof member 5 which move in an identical manner to the two arms22, 23 shown.

In FIG. 9 the next step of the transformation process is a continuationof that described with respect to FIG. 8.

In FIG. 10 the rear roof member has reached its fully stowed positionand is located within the passenger compartment behind the front row ofseats 9. It will be seen that in this position it lies below thewaistline 15 of the vehicle 1 and it will be appreciated that in thisposition it conceals the rear row of seats from view. It is advantageousto store the rear roof member 6 in this near vertical orientation behindthe front row of seats because it takes up relatively little space whenso stowed, protects the rear row of seats from the environment and,perhaps most importantly, does not occupy any of the luggage area of thevehicle 1 so that the original luggage carrying capacity of the vehicle1 below the waistline 15 remains virtually the same.

In FIG. 11 the front roof member has virtually reached the rearwardlimit of its movement and now continues to move more or less downwardlyalthough it still follows a curved path as defined by the two arms 22,23.

In FIG. 12 the access flaps 50 start to move down just ahead of thelowering front roof member 5 so that they resume their original closedpositions before the front roof member 5 reaches its stowed position.This is important because the seals on the side edges of the front roofmember 5 which were previously used to seal the upper edges of the sidewindows 13, 14 are arranged to engage with a corresponding lips 55 oneach of the access flaps 50. The lip 55 on one of the flaps 50 is shownon FIG. 30 a.

Each of the access flaps 50 is important because without such a flap therear roof member 6 could not be moved from its raised position to itsstowed position because the side supports of the rear roof member 6would contact the lower body structure. When the rear roof member 6 isin the fully raised position it lodges partially on each of the flaps 50and so the flaps 50 cannot be raised until the rear roof member 6 hasbeen moved rearwards but they are then raised to allow the rear roofmember 6 to be moved forwardly to be stowed. Each of the flaps 50 isconnected at one end by goose neck hinge arm 51 so that the flap 50 notonly lifts up but also moves outwardly as it is raised.

The access flaps 50 are also useful because, as shown in FIG. 30 a theyare used to support an inner seal 52 for the rear side window 14, whenthe rear side window 14 is raised. An outer seal 53 is supported by anadjacent lower body panel 54 at a position at or close to the waistline15 of the vehicle 1.

It will be appreciated that when the access flaps 50 are closed they lieto the inside of the adjacent rear side window 14 but when they areraised they are positioned to the outside of the rear side windows 14.

FIGS. 29 a to 29 c and the FIGS. 30 and 30 a show further views of aright hand side access flap 50.

On FIGS. 29 a to 29 c it is shown that an interior trim panel 60 has anopen ended slot 61 formed in it. This open ended slot 61 firstly allowsthe side supports and in particular a plate 40 used to connect the rearroof member 6 to a stowage mechanism to move from their raised positionsand are then used to allow part of the rear arm 23 of the front roofmechanism 20 to pass into a recess (not shown) within the lower bodystructure so as to conceal it from view when the front roof member 5 isin its stowed position. The slot 61 is therefore advantageous because itpermits not only the stowage of the rear roof member 6 to take place butalso the stowage of the front roof member 5.

In FIG. 13 the transformation process is complete with the rear roofmember 6 stowed behind the front row of seats 9 and the front roofmember 5 stowed horizontally on the rear part of the lower bodystructure so as to form a rear deck covering the luggage area 11 of thevehicle 1. The vehicle 1 has been transformed from a conventionalhatchback into a two seater convertible or open-top style of vehicle.

When in the pick-up or convertible style, the upper tailgate 7 can, ifrequired, be opened to form a windbreak behind the front row of seats 9.FIG. 33 shows the motor vehicle in a pick-up style with the uppertailgate raised to separate the passengers from the articles beingcarried. In this case a bicycle is being carried.

It will be appreciated that, even when the vehicle is in the convertiblestyle, the luggage area 11 can still be accessed via the lower tailgate8 and has a similar or the same carrying capacity to the luggage areawhen the vehicle is in the style of a hatchback motor vehicle.

In the transformation process described above the front roof member 5starts to move from its raised position to its stowed position beforethe rear roof member 6 has completed moving to its stored position so asto minimize the time taken for the vehicle 1 to transform and, when theopposite transformation is taking place, the rear roof member 6 willstart to move back to its raised position before the front roof member 5has returned fully to its raised position this need not be the case.

For example, the vehicle could be arranged to operate in the modepreviously described and a further mode in which the rear roof member 6is fully lowered to its stowed position without moving the front roofmember 5 from its raised position. This has the advantage that a thirdstyle of motor vehicle can be formed. When the rear roof member 6 isfully stowed, the luggage area 11 of the vehicle 1 is open to theatmosphere and with the front roof member 5 still in its raised positionthe vehicle has been transformed into a pick-up style of vehicle. Ifadditional load space is required this transformation can also includefolding forward of the backrests of one but preferably all of the seatsin the rear row of seats 10 so as to form a flat large load carryingarea. This transformation to a pick-up is advantageous in that it allowslarge bulky items that would not fit within the confines of thehatchback style of vehicle to be carried.

It will be appreciated that the movement of the front and rear roofmember 5 and 6 is controlled by an electronic controller (not shown) andthat various alternative modes of operation could be provided such asautomatic full transformation from hatchback to convertible, partialtransformation to an intermediate state such as the pick-up style andtransformation from the pick-up style to one of the other two styles.

Although the invention has been described with reference to a hatchbackstyle of vehicle having two rows of seats it could be applied to othertypes of two box motor vehicle such as an MPV or estate style. In thesecases the rear roof member will still be stowed within the passengercompartment but may be stowed behind a second row of seats if thevehicle has three rows of seats and the front roof member may compriseof more than one panel so that one of the panels stows as describedabove onto a rear part of the vehicle and the other panel stows in someother manner or is removable from the vehicle.

Therefore, for example, a MPV style of vehicle having three rows ofseats can by using this invention be transformed into a convertiblehaving two rows of seats or into a pick-up having two rows of seats.

In FIGS. 31 and 32 a motor vehicle 101 that is identical in mostrespects to that previously described is shown. The only significantdifference to the motor vehicle previously described is that this motorvehicle has a device for carrying articles 144 fitted to a front roofmember 105. As before the vehicle has upper and lower tailgates 107 and108 a rear roof member 106 a windscreen 103 bounded at an upper edge bya transversely extending cross-rail 104 two rows of seats of which onlythe front row 109 is shown and has a waistline 115.

Operation of the front and rear roofs 105, and 106 is as previouslydescribed.

The device for carrying articles is in this case a luggage rack 144 usedto carry an article in the form of a box 145 but could be a ski rack, abicycle rack, a canoe rack, a windsurfer rack a ladder rack or any othertype of device for securely fastening articles to the roof of the motorvehicle 101.

Because of the ability of the front roof member 105 to be moved from thestowed to the raised position or vice-versa, a heavy object such as thebox 145 can be secured to the luggage rack 144 when the front roofmember 105 is in the stowed position (FIG. 31) and then the front roofmember 105 can be moved to the raised position (FIG. 32) therebyeliminating the need to lift heavy articles onto the luggage rack 144 ofthe motor vehicle 101 when the front roof member 105 is raised.

This is clearly advantageous in that it reduces the risk of back injuryto the person loading the heavy article and will allow someone withinsufficient strength to lift the article onto the raised roof member105 but who is able to lift the object to the waistline 115 of the motorvehicle 101 to successfully load and secure the heavy article 145 inplace with the roof member 105 down and then raise the roof member 105so that the interior space of the motor vehicle can be fully utilised.

It will also be appreciated that the article 145 could also betransported with the roof member 105 in the stowed position if required.

With particular reference to FIGS. 14 to 29 there is shown in greaterdetail the stowage mechanisms 20, 30 used for the front and rear roofmembers 5 and 6.

The stowage mechanism 20 for the front roof 5 comprises of a front and arear “S” shaped arm 22, 23 and an electric motor 21 (shown only on FIG.1). In this case the front arm 22 is connected to the electric motor 21.However, it will be appreciated that the rear arm 23 could alternativelybe the driven arm or both of the arms 22, 23 could be driven ifrequired. It will be appreciated that on each side of the vehicle 1there will be a pair of arms and a motor to move the arms.

The front arm 22 is pivotally connected at its upper end to the frontroof member 5 and is pivotally connected at it lower end to part of thelower body structure of the vehicle 1 and the rear arm 23 is similarlyconnected at its upper end to the front roof member 5 and is pivotallyconnected at it lower end to part of the lower body structure of thevehicle 1.

The locations of the upper pivotal connections for the two arms 22, 23are positioned close to a transverse balance axis position substantiallyhalfway between the front and rear edges of the front roof member 5passing through the centre of gravity of the front roof member 5. Thepositioning of the positions of pivotal attachment of the two arms 22,23 to the front roof member 5 is such as to ensure that the front roofmember 5 is effectively balanced upon the two arms 22, 23 and that thereare no large forces acting on the arms 22, 23 trying to rotate the frontroof member 5 about a transversely extending axis. If the front roofmember 5 is connected to the two arms at, for example, a position nearto the rear edge of the front roof member 5 then it will be appreciatedthat there will be a considerable turning moment exerted upon the twoarms 22, 23 due the offset between the positions of attachment and thecentre of gravity of the front roof member 5. This would require the useof stronger arms and a larger more powerful motor which in both cases isundesirable.

In the example shown the front arm 22 is pivotally connected at itsupper end to the front roof member 5 at a position slightly in front ofthe balance axis and the rear arm 23 is pivotally connected at its upperend to the front roof member 5 at a position slightly to the rear of thebalance axis.

It will be appreciated that if each of the arms was straight then due tothe positioning of the upper pivotal connections near to the balanceaxis of the front roof member 5 they would present a considerableimpediment to ingress and egress from the passenger compartment when thefront roof member 5 is in the raised position. It is for this reasonthat they are both provided with double cranks so that when viewed fromthe side they are substantially “S” shaped because when so shaped theydo not significantly affect ingress and egress from the passengercompartment 12 when the front roof is raised because they extendsubstantially vertically upwardly for the portion of their length wherethey traverse from the lower body structure to the front roof member 5.The top bend ensures that the ingress and or egress is not adverselyaffected and the lower bend ensures that the arms extend substantiallyvertically and do not cross over the rear side window 14.

The electric motor 21 is driveably connected to the front arm 22 and hasa rotatable output shaft (not shown) to which is attached a worm gear(not shown) and a gearwheel (not shown) is attached to the front arm 22.Rotation of the worm gear will cause the front arm 22 to becorrespondingly rotated either rearwardly or forwardly depending uponthe direction of rotation of the worm gear.

It will be appreciated that the two arms 22, 23 form in combination withthe front roof member 5 and the lower body structure a four bar linkagewhich is positioned so as to ensure that the orientation of the frontroof member 5 remains virtually the same throughout the transition fromthe raised position shown in FIG. 1 to the stowed position shown in FIG.13. It will however be appreciated that if required the orientation ofthe front roof member could be changed as it is transitioned so thatwhen in the stowed position it is orientated at the correct angle toalign with the lower body structure that it rests upon.

Operation of the front roof stowage mechanism 20 is straightforward,when the front roof member 5 needs to be lowered the motor is switchedon and the interengaged worm gear and gearwheel cause the first arm 22to be rotated in an anticlockwise direction causing the front roof tomoved rearwardly and then downwardly along a curved path or arc definedby the positioning and respective lengths of the two arms 22, 23. Whenthe front roof member 5 reaches its stowed position a sensor either onthe lower body structure, the front roof structure 5, one of the arms22, 23 or the motor 21 is used to switch off the motor 21 to preventdamage occurring to the stowage mechanism 20. A corresponding sensor isprovided to switch off the motor 21 when the front roof member 5 ismoved back from the stowed position to its raised position to switch offthe motor when the front edge of the front roof member 5 contacts thetransversely extending cross-rail 4. The sensors could be in the form ofa current sensor used to detect when the current to the electric motorrises above a predetermined level or could be contact or proximitysensors.

With particular reference to FIGS. 14 to 23 there is shown a stowagemechanism 30 for the rear roof member 6.

The motor vehicle 1 has a pair of rear stowage mechanisms 30, one oneach side of the rear roof member 6 to move the rear roof member 6 fromthe raised position, in which it forms part of the cover for a passengercompartment 12 of the motor vehicle 1, to a stowed position, in whichthe portion of the passenger compartment 12 previously covered by therear roof member 6 is exposed to the surrounding atmosphere.

For simplicity and understanding only the rear roof stowage mechanism 30on the right hand side of the motor vehicle 1 will be described indetail but it will be appreciated that the left hand side roof stowagemechanism is similarly constructed.

The stowage mechanism 30 comprises of an endless drive mechanism in theform of a chain drive having an endless drive member in the form of achain 31 driveably connected to a part of the rear roof member 6 by adriven member in the form of a driven pin 38 which is used to replaceone of the chain pins normally used to connect together adjacent linkson the chain 31. The driven pin 38 is fastened to a connecting member inthe form of a plate 40 which is fastened at an opposite end to the rearroof structure 6. A guide member in the form of a guide pin 39 is alsofastened to the plate 40 so that a fixed distance is maintained at alltimes between the driven pin 38 and the guide pin 39.

A guide track in the form of a slot 32 formed in an elongate member isprovided for guiding the guide member 39 along a predetermined path. Theguide pin 39 is engaged with the slot 32 and so its movement is governedand controlled by the path owed by the slot 32. It will be appreciatedthat other forms of guide track could be used a simple slot is preferredbecause it is a simple and cost effective to produce.

A drive means in the form of an electric motor 35 a is used to cause thechain 31 to be selectively moved so as to cause the driven pin 38 tomove from a first position corresponding to a position in which the rearroof member 6 is in the raised position to a second positioncorresponding to a position in which the rear roof member 6 is in thestowed position.

The chain drive mechanism further comprises a gearwheel 35 engaged withthe chain 31 and driven by the electric motor 35 a, a lower chainwheel37 engaged with the chain 31, an idler gearwheel 36 engaged with thechain 31 and being movable by a chain adjuster means (not shown) toadjust the tension in the chain 31 an upper rear chainwheel 33 engagedwith the chain 31 and an upper front chain wheel 34 engaged with thechain 31.

As can best be seen with reference to FIG. 27 the upper front and rearchainwheels 34 and 33 have respective axes of rotation that are arrangedto lie on a common substantially horizontally arranged plane but thediameter of the front chainwheel 34 is smaller than the upper rearchainwheel 33 so that the path of the chain 31 is inclined downwardly ifa point on the chain 31 moves from the upper rear chainwheel 33 to theupper front chainwheel 34.

Similarly, the motor driven chainwheel 35 is positioned such that apoint on the chain 31 follows an inclined upwardly path as a point onthe chain 31 moves from the motor driven chainwheel 35 to the upper rearchainwheel 33.

The lower chainwheel 37 is positioned below and in front of all theother chainwheels 33, 34, 35 and 36 so that a point on the chain 31follows a vertically inclined downward path as the point moves from theupper front chain wheel 34 to the lower chainwheel 37. The termvertically inclined means that the path is inclined at an angle of lessthan 45 degrees to the vertical.

In practice it is desirable to arrange the angle of this verticalinclination to be the same as the vertical inclination of the backrestsfitted to the front row of seats 9 and it is preferable if theinclination of the front row of seats 9 is limited by an end stop or theposition is controlled so that the backrests are moved automaticallyinto a predetermined vertical inclination when transformation of thevehicle 1 from the hatchback style is started. In a preferred embodimentboth the inclination of the backrests and the fore-aft positioning ofthe front row of seats 9 within the passenger compartment 12 isautomatically set when the transformation to the convertible vehiclestyle is started.

The slot 32 follows a similar but offset path to the chain 31 beinginclined downwardly from one end position near to the upper rearchainwheel 33 to a knee or corner position located forwardly withrespect to the motor driven chainwheel 35 from where it follows adownward vertically inclined path that in this case runs parallel to thepath followed by the chain 31 from the upper front chainwheel 34 to thelower chainwheel 37.

Chain guides 41, 42 are provided to ensure that the chain 31 follows apredetermined path at least from the upper rear chainwheel 33 to theupper front chainwheel 34 and from there to the lower chainwheel 37.

It will be appreciated that the motor 35 a could be fastened to one ofthe other chainwheels 33, 34, 36 or 37 and that in such a case thechainwheel 35 could be either a simple idler or a chain tensioningidler.

The distance of the slot 32 from the chain 31 in the section thatextends from the one end of the slot 32 near to the upper rearchainwheel 33 to the upper front chainwheel 34 must be less than thedistance between the driven pin 38 and the guide pin 39 because thedistance between the driven and guide pins 38 and 39 is fixed. Thedistance between the chain 31 and the slot 32 compared to the distancebetween the driven and guide pins 38 and 39 will naturally determine theangle that rear roof member 6 will be in when the drive pin 38 attachedto the chain 31 is positioned between the upper rear chainwheel 33 andthe upper front chainwheel 34 and the guide pin 39 is in thecorresponding section of the slot 32. Preferably, the distance betweenthe driven and guide pins 38 and 39 will be significantly greater thanthe distance between the chain 31 and the slot 32 because this increasesthe angle of the rear roof member 6 and reduces the effect of toleranceson the system which may cause the roof to wobble as it is moved.

The paths followed by the chain 31 and the slot 32 determine themovement of the rear roof member 6. The path of the chain 31 from theupper rear chainwheel 33 past the upper front chainwheel 34 to the lowerchainwheel 37 is in the form of an inverted “L” shape having arelatively short almost horizontal upper path length and a longer morevertical path length. The path of the slot 32 is similarly like aninverted “L”.

Operation of the stowage mechanism 30 is as follows, when the rear roofmember 6 is in the raised position the chain 31, the driven pin 38 andthe guide pin 39 are positioned as shown in FIG. 14. Both of theserespective positions are referred to as the first positions of thedriven and guide pins 38 and 39. In the first position, the driven pin38 is in a portion of the chain 31 between the motor driven chainwheel35 and the upper rear chainwheel 33 and the guide pin 39 is positionedin a short upwardly inclined upper portion of the slot 32.

When the motor 35 a is activated to move the rear roof member 6 from theraised position the motor driven chainwheel 35 will begin to rotate in acounter clockwise direction. This rotation will initially cause thedriven and guide pins 38 and 39 to be moved from their respective firstpositions rearwardly and upwardly towards respective third positions asshown in FIG. 15 and the rear roof member 6 will also move rearwardlyand slightly upwards so as to reduce the pressure on any seals locatedbetween the rear roof member 6 and the lower body structure of thevehicle 1. It will be seen from FIG. 15 that the driven and guide pins38 and 39 follow substantially parallel paths during this part of theoperating cycle. The driven pin 38 is positioned at the lower edge ofthe upper rear chainwheel 33 when it is in the third position so that itis just becoming engaged by the upper rear chainwheel 33.

In FIGS. 16 to 18 the next phase of operation occurs and the driven andguide pins 38 and 39 move from their third positions to fourthpositions. The driven pin 38 is positioned at the upper edge of thechainwheel 33 when it is in the fourth position so that it is justbecoming disengaged from the upper rear chainwheel 33.

During this phase the driven and guide pins 38 and 39 follow differentpaths because the driven pin 38 moves around the circumference of theupper rear chainwheel 33 so that its motion becomes predominantlyupwardly but the guide pin moves slightly rearwardly and upwardly duringthis phase as determined by the slot 32.

This difference in direction of movement causes the rear roof member 6to rotate forwardly so that the front edge of the rear roof member 6drops down below the rear edge of the front roof member 5 therebyallowing the front edge of the rear roof member 6 to pass under the rearedge of the front roof member 5 at a later phase of operation.

As the chain 31 continues to move in the same direction the driven andguide members 38 and 39 are moved on from their respective fourthpositions forwardly as indicated in FIG. 19 to respective fifthpositions indicated generally in FIG. 20. In the fifth position thedriven pin 38 is positioned at the upper edge of the upper frontchainwheel 34 so that it is just becoming engaged by the upper rearchainwheel 34.

During this period of motion the driven and guide pins 38 and 39 moveprimarily forwardly, although because the path of the chain 31 and theslot 32 is inclined downwardly there is also some downward motion. Themotion is therefore along respective downwardly inclined planes. Thisphase of the operation is positioning the rear roof member 6 ready to belowered into its stored position and the rear roof member 6 passes underthe rear edge of the front roof member 5.

The next phase is to complete the forward rotation of the rear roofmember 6 which is achieved when the driven pin 38 moves around the upperfront gearwheel 34 to move from the fifth position shown in FIG. 20 to asixth position shown in FIG. 21. The driven pin 38 is just becomingdisengaged from the upper front chainwheel 34 when it is in its sixthposition.

During this phase of operation the guide pin 39 remains virtuallystationary but allows the plate 40 to rotate. In this position the guidepin 39 is at or close to the knee in the slot 32.

The final phase of operation is the movement of the driven and guidemembers 38 and 39 from their respective sixth positions to theirrespective second positions as shown in FIGS. 22 and 23. In the secondposition the driven pin 38 is positioned close to but not in engagementwith the lower gearwheel 37. The second positions correspond to thestored position of the rear roof member 6 and this motion is primarilydownwardly. However, due to the path followed by the chain 31 from theupper front chainwheel 34 to the lower chainwheel 37 and thecorresponding path of the slot 32, the movement of the driven and guidemembers 38 and 39 from the respective fourth positions to theirrespective second positions is actually along respective verticallyinclined planes.

When the driven pin 38 and the guide pin 39 reach their respectivesecond positions as indicated in FIG. 23 the motor 35 a is switched offand the rear roof member 6 is positioned in its stowed position. Themotor 35 a is automatically switched off when the driven and guide pins38 and 39 reach their respective second positions by means of one ormore sensors (not shown).

The sensor or sensors may sense the current being supplied to the motor35 a or alternatively proximity or contact sensors could be used toswitch off the motor 35 a.

The positions of the driven and guide pins 38 and 39 shown in FIGS. 24to 26 are the same as those shown in FIG. 23 because the motion of therear roof 6 has been terminated and only the motion of the front roofmember 5 is continuing.

It will be appreciated that by re-energizing the electric motor 35 a sothat the motor driven chainwheel 35 starts to rotate in a clockwisedirection the motion of the rear roof member 6 will be reversed and itwill be returned to its starting or raised position and the driven andguide pins 38 and 39 are moved back to their first positions shown inFIG. 14.

During this reverse transformation process the rear roof member 6 isfirst raised up from the stowage position in the passenger compartmentof the vehicle 1 and is then moved rearwardly and rotated rearwardlybefore it is finally moved back forwardly and downwardly to reengage itwith the front roof member 5 and to compress the seals position betweenthe rear roof member 6 and the lower body structure.

One of the significant advantages of an endless drive mechanism is thatthe width or thickness of the endless drive member is very small. Thiscan best be seen in FIG. 28.

The narrowness of this type of mechanism means that a chain or beltdrive mechanism can be easily packaged or located in the motor vehicle 1whereas some other forms of potential actuation mechanism such as ramsare less easily packaged. It will be appreciated that the rear roofmember sits on the lower body structure when it is in the raisedposition and so must be wider than the lower body structure upon whichit rest but stows within the lower body structure when lowered. This isachieved partly by the use of the flaps and partly by tapering thevehicle so that it is wider at the position where it is stowed than atthe position where it rests when raised and the rear roof member is alsowider where it abuts the lower body structure than it is where it issubstantially flat. This tapering of the rear roof member is how therear roof member can stow behind the front row of seats without theflaps extending up to the front row of seats and also how the rear roofmember 6 can move under and to the inside of the front roof member 5 asit is stowed.

It is however still very problematic to stow the rear roof member inthis manner and the use of a stowage mechanism that is very compact isparticularly advantageous for this use.

In addition, the chain drive mechanism disclosed provides in a simpleand cost effective manner a means of not only rotating the rear roofmember 6 through at least 45 degrees but also of lowering the rear roofmember 6 down so that it is conveniently stowed within the passengercompartment where it occupies little space due to its verticallyinclined orientation.

Although the invention has been described with reference to a preferredembodiment using a simple chain drive it will be appreciated thatsimilar advantages could be obtained by replacing the chain drive withanother form of endless drive mechanism such as a belt drive or toothedbelt drive.

It will further be appreciated that the electric motor 35 a could bereplaced by a hydraulic motor and/or both of the chain drive mechanismscould be driven by a common motor with one or more drive shafts or otherpower transmission devices connecting the respective chain drives oneach side of the motor vehicle to the common motor.

Although the invention has been described with reference to a roofstructure having two roof members it will be appreciated that it couldbe applied to a roof structure having more than two members. Forexample, the roof structure could have a front roof member, a rear roofmember and an intermediate roof member interposed between the front andrear roof members when all of the roof members are in their raisedpositions. In this case the intermediate roof member could be a separatecomponent or could be pivotally attached to one of the other roofmembers so as to be movable with that roof member.

It will be appreciated that in the case of the motor vehicle describedthe rear roof member has to be moved rearwardly, rotated, movedforwardly and lowered to move from its raised to its lowered positionsbut this might not necessarily be the case it may only need to be movedforwardly, rotated and lowered depending upon the configuration of thesealing arrangement between the rear roof member and the other roofmember with which it cooperates when in the raised position.

Therefore in summary a simple chain drive mechanism has been disclosedthat is both compact and economical to manufacture but can provide thecomplex rotational and translational movement required to move a roofmember between raised and stored positions.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that, although theinvention has been described with reference to one or more preferredembodiments, the invention is not limited to these disclosed embodimentsand that various alternative embodiments or modifications to thedisclosed embodiments could be made without departing from the scope ofthe invention.

1. A roof storage mechanism for a motor vehicle having a body structureand a roof structure having at least two roof members including a rigidrear roof member, the roof mechanism being operable to move at least therear roof member from a raised position, in which it forms incombination with one or more other roof members a cover for a passengercompartment of the motor vehicle, to a stowed position, the roof storagemechanism comprising an endless drive mechanism having an endless drivemember connected to a part of the rear roof member by a driven member, aguide track for guiding a guide member fastened to the rear roof memberand a drive means to cause the endless drive member to be selectivelymoved so as to cause the driven member to move from a first positioncorresponding to a position in which the rear roof member is in theraised position to a second position corresponding to a position inwhich the rear roof member is in the stowed position, the movement ofthe endless drive member causing the guide member to be moved along theguide track from a first position corresponding to a position in whichthe rear roof member is in the raised position to a second positioncorresponding to a position in which the rear roof member is in thestowed position wherein the roof mechanism is operable to rotate therear roof forwardly, move the rear roof forwardly and then lower therear roof down a vertically inclined plane in order to move the rearroof from the raised position to the stowed position.
 2. A stowagemechanism as claimed in claim 1 wherein the roof mechanism is furtheroperable to move the rear roof rearwardly in order to disengage it fromone of the other roof members before it is rotated forwardly, movedforwardly or lowered down the vertically inclined plane.
 3. A stowagemechanism as claimed in claim 2 wherein the movement of the drivenmember from the first position to the second position is firstrearwardly to a third position so as to disengage the rear roof memberfrom the other roof member, is then primarily upwardly from the thirdposition to a fourth position so as to produce forward rotation of theroof member, is then forwardly along a downwardly inclined plane fromthe fourth position to a fifth position, is then primarily downwardlyfrom the fifth position to a sixth position to complete the forwardrotation of the rear roof member and is then down a vertically inclinedplane from the sixth position to the second position.
 4. A stowagemechanism as claimed in claim 3 wherein each driven member follows aninverted “L” shaped path from the fourth position to the second positionand each guide member follows an inverted “L” shaped path between thefirst and second positions.
 5. A stowage mechanism as claimed in claim 1wherein the endless drive mechanism is a chain drive mechanism and theendless drive member is an endless chain, the chain drive mechanismfurther comprising a front upper chainwheel, a rear upper chainwheel anda lower chainwheel, the chainwheels being positioned such that the pathof the endless chain from the rear upper chainwheel to the front upperchainwheel is forwardly along a downwardly inclined plane and the pathof the endless chain from the front upper chainwheel to the lowerchainwheel is primarily downwardly along a vertically inclined plane. 6.A stowage mechanism as claimed in claim 1 wherein the guide trackfollows a path that is arranged substantially parallel to at least aportion of the path followed by the endless drive member.
 7. A motorvehicle having a first row of seats, a second row of seats locatedbehind the first row of seats and a roof stowage mechanism as claimed inclaim 1 wherein the rear roof member, when in the stowed position, islocated within the passenger compartment of the motor vehicle and ispositioned between the first row of seats and the second row of seats.8. A motor vehicle as claimed in claim 7 wherein the roof mechanism isoperable to move a front edge of the rear roof member under a rear edgeof one of the other roof members in order to move the rear roof memberfrom the raised position to the stowed position.
 9. A motor vehicle asclaimed in claim 7 wherein the rear roof member at least partiallycovers the second row of seats when it is in the stowed position.
 10. Amotor vehicle as claimed in claim 7 in which the motor vehicle has a twopart roof structure comprising the rear roof member and a front roofmember which is also movable from a raised position to a stowed positionwherein when the front roof member is in the raised position it forms incombination with the raised rear roof member a cover for a passengercompartment of the motor vehicle and when the front roof is moved to thestowed position it lies substantially horizontally at the rear of themotor vehicle so as to at least partially cover the second row of seats.